Manufacturers, bakers and workers have raised alarm over the rising cost of diesel, now approaching one thousand nine hundred naira per litre in some parts of Nigeria.
The development is raising fears of higher production and transportation costs, as well as further increases in food prices.
The Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria, CORAN, agreed that urgent action is needed to address the situation.
In a statement by the Publicity Secretary, Eche Idoko, suggest that government must strengthen domestic refining and ensure adequate crude supply to Nigerian refineries.
CORAN argued that increased local refining could reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported diesel and ease pressure on businesses.
The President of the Premium Bakers’ Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onuorah, says the situation has become extremely difficult for manufacturers.
He says diesel, which sold for about eight hundred naira per litre around the same period last year, now costs between one thousand eight hundred and one thousand nine hundred naira, depending on the location and source.
Onuorah says the increase has made it difficult for businesses to determine their profitability, with many simply struggling to remain operational.
He also says rising energy and transportation costs are placing additional pressure on workers whose incomes have largely remained fixed.
Economic expert, Dr Marcel Okeke, says the real sector will continue to bear the brunt of rising energy costs.
Okeke describes Nigeria as a generator-dependent economy, warning that higher petroleum prices affect factories, businesses and households.
He says the high cost of doing business is also weakening Nigeria’s competitiveness and discouraging investment.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, says the country’s industrial sector is already showing signs of serious pressure.
MAN says industrial real growth fell from seven point four six per cent in the second quarter of 2025 to three point nine six per cent in the same quarter of 2026.
The association attributes the decline largely to rising energy costs, exchange-rate pressures, high interest rates and electricity tariffs.
CORAN says the government must ensure that Nigeria’s crude oil increasingly serves Nigerian industries, arguing that energy-sector reforms must translate into tangible benefits for citizens.
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